[size=14pt]Etisalat gives Nigerians free airtime for life[/size]
By Efem Nkanga, 09.09.2008


Nigeria ’s fifth GSM mobile operator, Etisalat will today launch its commercial service, by giving Nigerians, an opportunity to own an exclusive Etisalat number as well as free airtime for life.


THISDAY gathered from the website of Etisalat that Nigerians will get the free airtime every month for as long as they have one chargeable event characterized by sending a text message or initiating a voice call every month.

The unique opportunity aptly tagged ‘’0809uchoose’’ gives Nigerians three avenues through which they can get an exclusive number for life. One is by registering online, dialling an 0809uchoose hotline or visiting any of the 0809uchoose mobile road show tents in selected cities in the country.

The 0809uchoose opportunity which gives Nigerians the chance to reserve their desired numbers at no cost whatsoever is however only available for a limited time. Etisalat, which got its license for 400 million US dollars is commencing commercial operations after unveiling its network to Nigerians a few months ago. Etisalat’s network will ride on the 0809 numbering series and will accommodate 10 million subscribers in the first instance.

The commercial roll out is coming after some delays, which THISDAY gathered was necessitated by the need by Etisalat to ensure the creation of a world class communications infrastructure that will not be bogged down by challenges characterized by poor quality of service that had been the lot of Nigerians of late.

Etisalat’s entrance into the nation's telecoms sector was the culmination of the bilateral agreement between Nigeria and the United Arab Emirate (UAE). Etisalat is expected to economically, technologically and socially transform the telecommunications landscape of the nation. The new network is expected to use the marketing strategy of a sound technological network with good service quality, reduced tariff to give other operators a run for their money and gain considerable market share from already established operators when it starts commercial service today. Etisalat is expected to make the kind of impact reminiscent of Globacom when it hit the nation’s telecoms sector by crashing the price of owning mobile lines and introducing the per second billing which was the first of its kind in the country as at then. Its entrance is expected to heat up the sector and enable renewed competition for the soul of Nigerian subscribers.

The Chief Executive Officer of Etisalat, Saoud Al Shamsi recently remarked that the sector will be energised by the activities of Etisalat. He stated that the company was taking its time to ensure that the Nigerian people get the kind of services they have never gotten before in the history of the sector. He disclosed that Etisalat will replicate the technologies it has pioneered in different markets across the globe in Nigeria . These technologies he reiterated including the 3.75G network which it rolled out in Egypt recently, fixed line services over its Next Generation Network, and a range of services including 3G, GPRS, Blackberry and MobileCam will open a new vista in the nation's telecoms terrain.

It will be recalled that in January last year EMTS, a Nigerian company, in partnership with Mudabala Development Company of UAE, acquired from the Federal government a Unified Access License that includes a mobile license and spectrum in the GSM 1800 and 900 MHz bands for $400 million. Etisalat is said to have acquired a 40 percent stake in EMTS to operate the license in Nigeria . It also competed with renowned telecoms firms like Vodafone to emerge as the preferred operator of the license in the country.

Etisalat is present in 15 countries, ten of them in Africa , the company which has demonstrated its capacity to thrive in difficult and challenging terrains and succeeded in building a network that spans the middle East, Africa and Asia.

http://odili.net/news/source/2008/sep/9/214.html

Is this headline misleading or what ? Is it possible for any company to give free airtime for life ? This company needs to come clean and address this. Misleading adverts is a fraud ! Even companies that operate the "free airtime" always do so with a caveat.

No way will any network give u free airtime for life.so do not be fooled. na story oooo.heard that their services is okay anyway.Let us just keep our fingers crossed.

the topic reads "free airtime for life" but the body of the article is more like "etisalat number for life"

Etisalat is actually giving free airtime every month. I confirmed this from their website at www.etisalat.com.ng but u are expected to do a chargeable activity such as make calls or send text to get the free airtime . The free airtime is actually 300 seconds

If I were you I'll be reserving a number for myself

300 seconds means 5 minutes. Hmmm. Sounds nice. And moreso if they can offer us a low tariff,that means i go just dump my mtn follow them,most especially if free browsing dey incured. Ha ha ha ha ha ha

It is impossible for a business to offer FREE SERVICE for life. Someone somewhere has to pay for the FREE LUNCH!

Someone need to get the correct info on this.

guys,guys, these people r not misleading us.They said d truth, what d ad said is ''free airtime for life'', this means 1ce u reserve 1 of the nos in their 0809uchoose campaign,u\ll be entitled to be receiving free airtime every month for the rest of ur life on their network, Where's d fraud in that??
We Nigerians r always looking for baseless issues because of d way of life we r used 2.Let's learn 2 believe 4 1ce and stop being over cautious over nothing, Afterall,d company no com force anybody subscribe, na do as u wish, so stop complaining,

Anybody with any latest business news??I need 2 make some cash,me,I no dey 4 killing other people's businesses,when I dey work on my own!!